Scelio striatus Priesner

Yoder, Matthew J., Valerio, Alejandro A., Polaszek, Andrew, Noort, Simon van, Masner, Lubomir & Johnson, Norman F., 2014, Monograph of the Afrotropical species of Scelio Latreille (Hymenoptera, Platygastridae), egg parasitoids of acridid grasshoppers (Orthoptera, Acrididae), ZooKeys 380, pp. 1-188 : 170-172

Scelio striatus Priesner Figures 395-400; Morphbank 80

Scelio striatus Priesner, 1951: 144 (original description); Kononova and Kozlov 2008: 139, 153 (description, keyed).

Scelio gaudens Nixon, 1958: 309, 317 (original description, keyed); Masner 1965: 93 (type information), syn. n.

Scelio striatus http://zoobank.org/4FF01A88-A8EF-4464-BFD3-1E836328215F

Scelio striatus urn:lsid:biosci.ohio-state.edu:osuc_concepts:5241

Description.

Female body length: 2.95-4.09 mm (n=20). Male body length: 2.88-3.31 mm (n=11). Form of sculpture of frons below anterior ocellus in female: fine dorsoventral striae with few to no reticulations. Distribution of sculpture of frons posterior to anterior ocellus in female: more or less uniform throughout. Color of pilosity of dorsomedial head in female: brown or predominantly brown. Sculpture of ventrolateral corner of frons adjacent to malar sulcus in male: predominantly dorsoventral. Form of anteclypeus between medial teeth in female: striplike, broadly concave. Form of anteclypeus between medial teeth in males: deeply concave medially, bounded by two projecting rounded lobes. Form of lateral gena below eye in anterior view in female: evenly rounded towards mandible, not bulging laterally. Sculpture of anteclypeus: smooth throughout. Sculpture of pronotal nucha in female: present throughout. Color of pilosity on mesonotum in female: predominantly brown throughout; predominantly white on mesoscutum, predominantly brown on mesoscutellum. Sculpture of mesoscutellum in female: predominantly longitudinally rugulose. Sculpture of oxter: with prominent smooth patch. Pilosity of metapleuron overlapping or arising within posteroventral quadrant in female: 1 seta; 2 setae; 3 setae; 4 or more setae. Color of fore wing in female: evenly colored throughout. Color of fore wing in male: more or less evenly colored throughout. Color of pilosity on lateral T2-T5 in female: T2-T5 white to off-white. Fine pilosity of lateral T1 in female: present, not reaching posterior margin. Distribution of pilosity on metasomal terga 3-5 in female: pilosity densely present in anterior half, posterior half more or less glabrous. Form of setae on lateral T2-T5: predominantly thick throughout. Pilosity of anterolateral corner of dorsal T3 in female: sparsely setose to glabrous. Form of medial surface of S3-S5 in males: flat to slightly concave, S3 only slightly concave posteriorly.

Diagnosis.

Scelio striatus is easily distinguished from all other Afrotropical walkeri-group species by the setal pattern on the lateral tergites in which the pilosity is absent in the posterior half and dense in anterior half (Figs 395, 396, 400). Males are recognized among all Afrotropical walkeri-group species by the strongly concave medial anteclypeus bound by strong rounded projections (see Fig. 17 in Nixon 1958).

Link to distribution map.

http://hol.osu.edu/map-large.html?id=5338

Material examined.

Holotype Scelio striatus , female: EGYPT: Al Qahirah Gov., Al Ma’adi (Meadi), 10.VII.1933, H. Priesner, USNM Type No. 70883 (deposited in USNM). Paratypes, Scelio gaudens : MALI: 5 unrecorded sex, BMNH(E)#790433-790437 (BMNH). Other material: (104 females, 11 males, 13 unknowns) BOTSWANA: 1 female, OSUC 212416 (CNCI). ERITREA: 1 female, OSUC 210358 (MCSN). ETHIOPIA: 1 unknown, BMNH(E)#790449 (BMNH). IVORYCOAST: 8 females, OSUC 213015-213016, 213061, 213063, 213067, 213225, 213238 (CNCI); OSUC 213013 (OSUC). KENYA: 20 females, 1 male, OSUC 212359-212360, 212362, 214095, 214112, 214143, 214145, 214155-214156, 214158, 234650, 234657, 234660, 234662, 234696, 234700 (CNCI); OSUC 214097, 59022, 59028, 59096 (OSUC); OSUC 248099 (USNM). NAMIBIA: 1 unknown, BMNH(E)#790441 (BMNH). NIGERIA: 2 females, OSUC 211377, 250998 (CNCI). SOMALIA: 5 females, OSUC 211272, 212130, 212606-212607, 212904 (CNCI). SOUTH AFRICA: 7 females, 1 male, 10 unknowns, BMNH(E)#790438-790440, 790442-790448 (BMNH); OSUC 211273, 211292, 212352, 212669 (CNCI); OSUC 203963 (OSUC); OSUC 213365, 213381, 213463 (SANC). TANZANIA: 3 females, 1 male, OSUC 212891, 212966-212967, 212974 (CNCI). UGANDA: 1 unknown, BMNH(E)#790450 (BMNH). UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: 4 females, OSUC 214059, 214072, 214074-214075 (CNCI). YEMEN: 22 females, 8 males, OSUC 212471, 212473-212474, 212490, 212498, 212501, 212940, 212944, 250678, 250879, 250942-250943, 251033, 251039, 251044, 251051-251052, 251054, 251058, 254664, 254667, 254671, 254685, 254691, 254777, 254779, 254801 (CNCI); OSUC 212499, 251056 (OSUC); UCRC ENT 171006 (UCRC). ZIMBABWE: 31 females, OSUC 211234, 211237-211238, 211245, 211248, 212097-212098, 212139-212140, 212403, 212409, 212570-212571, 212573, 212577, 212580-212581, 212585-212587, 212589, 212595, 212597, 212600, 213003, 213009, 213011, 213055-213056, 213251 (CNCI); OSUC 211236 (OSUC).

Comments.

Scelio striatus is the most easily diagnosed member of the walkeri-group based on the distinctive metasomal pilosity. The association of males with females is largely based on observations of Nixon (1958), who treated the species as Scelio gaudens . A small series of females (OSUC 203963, 212669, 214143, 214156, 214158, 234650, 234696, 234700) is tentatively included here. They differ slightly in that pilosity of the lateral metasoma is slightly thinner. There are usually 2-3 setae in the posteroventral quadrant of the metapleuron of females. The sculpture of the dorsum of the head is more densely reticulate than in most species.